Identifying tendon ruptures is usually straightforward clinically but there are many cases where POCUS can help greatly. For the acutely swollen and tender knee, it is often difficult to do a thorough exam and the patient is often left non-weight bearing and gets reassessed several days or weeks later. However, POCUS can help identify significant injuries like tears of the quadriceps or patellar tendon, improving time to diagnosis and treatment. Just beware pitfalls such as tendon anisoptry causing false positives.[Ed.]

Below is a case from Dr. Garant:

An elderly man with Alzheimer’s disease presented to the medical clinic for his allergy shot. A few minutes after receiving the vaccine, he got his foot stuck in the carpet by the entrance, lost his balance, and fell.